After winning 5 of 6 regular season games from Lethbridge, Kootenay took Game 1 of their Eastern Conference Semi-finals series by turning a 2-0 third period deficit into a 3-2 win. Ben Maxwell (undrafted) scored his fifth of the playoffs to win the game for the Ice at the 13 minute mark of the third period. Game 2 is Saturday night in Lethbridge.

The T-Birds chased All-WHL goalie Chet Pickard when they jumped out to a 6-1 lead less than 3 minutes into the third period then added one more for good measure on their way to a 7-1 win. Pickard led the WHL with a 46-12-2-2 record this year and is expected to be one of the first goalies taken at this summerâ€™s draft. Colton Yellow Horn and Jason Reese had a short-handed breakaway for Tri-City with 30 seconds left in the first, but couldn't get the puck past Helenius. A goal there would have cut Seattle's lead to 2-1. Seattle got a hat trick from Ian MacKenzie (undrafted) to help them steal home-ice advantage from the Americans, who hadnâ€™t played in 9 days after sweeping Kamloops. No.1 Tri-City was 5-4 against Seattle this year with both teams earning an overtime win. Game 2 is Saturday night in Kennewick, Washington.

Karri Ramo allowed 3 goals on 39 shots in the loss. Ramo held the game at 1-1 despite a 2 to 1 shot disparity in favor of the Capitals until a third period power play allowed the Caps to break the deadlock for good. With just a little more goal support, Ramo might've had a signature win to close out his season.

Matt Smaby was -1 in 16:20 tonight with 5 hits and 1 blocked shot. He also took a pair of minors: one for tripping and one for holding.